christian moore

HOUSTON — José Soriano and two relievers combined for a two-hitter and Oswald Peraza hit his first home run since a trade from the Yankees to lead the Angels to a 3-0 win over the Houston Astros on Sunday.

Angels outfielder Taylor Ward was injured trying to make a catch on that hit when he crashed face-first into the metal scoreboard in left field.

He was bleeding and appeared to have a cut above his right eye. He held a smaller cloth to his head as he was slowly carted off the field while resting his head on the shoulder of a team employee who rode the cart with him. There was no immediate update on his injury.

Soriano (10-9) allowed one hit and struck out eight in seven innings. Luis García allowed one hit in a scoreless eighth and Kenley Jansen threw a perfect ninth for his 25th save.

There were two outs in the fifth when Peraza connected off Hunter Brown (10-7) into the bullpen in right-center field to put the Angels up 1-0. His homer comes after his two-run single in the ninth inning Saturday helped Los Angeles to a 4-1 victory that snapped a three-game skid.

Yoán Moncada walked to start the eighth and scored on Mike Trout’s double that bounced off the wall in center field to make it 2-0. Ward walked before Luis Rengifo reached and Trout scored on an error by Lance McCullers Jr. when the pitcher overthrew first base.

Yordan Alvarez singled with no outs in the first and Soriano walked a batter in the second and sixth innings. The Astros didn’t get another hit until Ramón Urías doubled with one out in the eighth inning.

Brown allowed three hits and a run with five strikeouts in six innings. McCullers Jr. allowed three hits and two runs in his first relief appearance since 2018.

Up next: LHP Yusei Kikuchi (6-9, 3.68 ERA) will start for the Angels in the series finale Monday. Houston hasn’t announced its starter.

The Angels placed rookie second baseman Christian Moore on the 10-day injured list with a sprained left thumb on Thursday.

Moore left the Angels’ 8-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night with the injury. Moore suffered the injury when he dove for Ozzie Albies’ ground ball in the sixth inning. Moore’s hand bent awkwardly when he hit the ground.

Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery said he was grateful Moore would not require surgery, though he wouldn’t put a timetable on how much time the rookie might miss.

“Anytime you see somebody like him have an injury like that, you fear the worst,” Montgomery said, adding the hope Moore could miss two weeks might be “looking at the best-case scenario.”

Moore, a 2024 first-round draft pick from Tennessee, was hitting .189 in 53 at-bats following his promotion to the Angels on June 13.

Infielder Chad Stevens, whose contract was selected from triple-A Salt Lake, moved into the starting lineup at second base on Thursday night in his major league debut.

“He’s been playing really well,” Montgomery said of Stevens. “He’s done everything he can do to earn this opportunity.”

The 26-year-old Stevens was hitting .307 with 14 homers at Salt Lake.

The Angels released right-hander Héctor Neris, who had a 7.80 ERA in 23 games.

Young Angels fans who lined the infield for autographs as the team jogged onto the field Sunday, may not know the thrill, heart-racing suspense of the postseason — nor the captivating, religious-like fervor the rally monkey could bring.

Neither did the Angels that took their places in the field, combining for zero postseason appearances — a group that hadn’t even made their major-league debuts when Mike Trout last led the Angels to the playoffs.

2014 represents the longest postseason drought in MLB. Meanwhile, the 2002 World Series title may read more as a story told by parents to the kids who ran back up into the shaded seats away from the blistering sun after receiving signed baseballs from a group featuring some present-day Angels — Nolan Schanuel, Christian Moore and Logan O’Hoppe.

Does the pressure of holding a postseason spot, potentially hitting a benchmark goal before the All-Star break, change the short-term focus of the franchise? When asked about the expectations before Sunday’s game, interim manager Ray Montgomery said he’s just focused on the now, a message he’s been trying to instill in the clubhouse since spring training.

“If we worry about ourselves and playing the day that we’re scheduled to play, and not worry about the other stuff, we’ll continue to be fine,” Montgomery said.

On Sunday, however, focus collapsed in the ninth and extra innings, a winning record remaining just past arm’s length in the Angels’ 11-inning, 7-4 defeat to the Nationals (35-49). Closer Kenley Jansen blew his first save of the season in the ninth while up one run, and despite a scoreless 10th from Connor Brogdon, he gave up three runs (two earned) in the 11th after a CJ Abrams triple broke the game open.

The Angels (41-42) had plenty of opportunity to hold on to secure their first winning record since April 20. Outfielder Taylor Ward had a career-high three doubles, the first of which scored Schanuel — who reached on a walk — in the first to give the Angels a 1-0 lead. In the sixth, down 2-1, Ward led off the bottom half with a double, on a ground ball deflected by a diving attempt by Nationals third baseman Brady House.

The eighth-year Angels veteran scored on a single from Jo Adell — extending his hit streak to a career-high 11 games — in the next at bat. Moore, who got his first taste of stardom Saturday with a fan meet-and-greet in Tustin, treated the home crowd to a go-ahead single scoring Adell later in the inning.

Quickly becoming a fan favorite for the Halos faithful, Moore capped off his introductory homestand with another clutch at bat — in a week that started with a bang thanks to his two home run spectacle Tuesday against the Red Sox. The rookie second baseman collected five tying or go-ahead hits across the homestand.

Angels starting pitcher Jack Kochanowicz was drilled in the left leg with a comebacker in the first inning, but pitched into the fifth until Montgomery pulled the sinkerballer after a walk and double. He gave up two runs and five hits and two walks, while striking out two.

The Angels bullpen was solid after Kochanowicz removal, combining for five strikeouts, three walks, three hits and two runs before extra innings began. Reid Detmers highlighted the combined effort, striking out three across 1 ⅓ innings, and helping Ryan Zeferjahn escape the seventh with just one run to his name. The southpaw was in line for the victory before Jansen’s blown save sent the game to extra innings.

Jumping for Jo(y)

Adell has strung together a potential AL Player of the Month-level campaign in June, socking 11 home runs — best in the AL — as well as .284 batting average and 18 RBIs.

So far, Adell is already on pace a career-high in wins above replacement rating with 1.0 entering the game, according to Baseball Reference, and is on track for career-best marks in on-base percentage and slugging percentage as well.

“I’m rooting for him,” Montgomery said. “The home runs are nice, and it’s a byproduct of being on the field every day, the work he’s doing. But everything defensively, base running, he’s contributing every way possible.”

Etc.

Zach Neto pinch-hit in the seventh inning for shortstop Kevin Newman and then played the remainder of the game — his first time back fielding since jamming his shoulder Tuesday.

Montgomery said before the game that conversations with Neto and the medical staff leaned to giving him a full off day, along with having the Monday off day, rather than just being in the lineup as the designated hitter.

But when push came to shove in a then-tied game, Neto (0-for-2) and Mike Trout — who began the game on the bench — had an at bat.

The Angels ran into a buzzsaw.

Boston southpaw Garrett Crochet scorched through them on Tuesday night, striking out 10 across seven scoreless innings. The 6-foot-6 Red Sox ace fired high-90s heat with success a day after Walker Buehler struggled to keep the Angels off the basepaths.

But with Crochet removed from the game in the eighth, the Angels discovered life. Enter the youngest-tenured Angel, Christian Moore. He walloped a home run over the left field wall for his second career home run to tie the score at one and help send the game to extra innings.

In the 10th inning, Moore played hero again, shooting a two-run home run to right field to walk-off the Red Sox and lift the Angels (39-40) to a 3-2 victory, bringing them one game below .500 and earning a blue sports drink shower in the process.

The announced crowd of 33,115 fans at Angel Stadium attempted to will a rally into existence in the seventh inning, cheering loudly as the heart of the Angels’ lineup hit after Mike Trout worked a leadoff walk. Crochet dispatched the Angels back to the dugout, inducing pinch-hitter Travis d’Arnaud to pop out and hold a 1-0 lead.

Angels fans would have to wait just one more Angels batter before Moore pulled his home run over the short left-field wall against reliever Greg Weissert. The Angels’ top prospect became the first Angel since 1966, and second overall, to have each of his first two home runs the tying or go-ahead variety in the seventh inning or later.

The Angels’ bullpen, which has emerged as one of the best in baseball during June to the tune of a 2.91 earned-run average entering Tuesday’s game, shut down the Red Sox (40-41) after acting manager Ray Montgomery pulled Tyler Anderson from the game after 4 ⅔ innings and 82 pitches.

Reid Detmers gave up the only run (unearned) out of the bullpen, the 10th inning single from Marcelo Mayer to give the Red Sox a 2-1 lead.

Anderson — flummoxed as he watched Montgomery come to the mound as he called on right-hander Connor Brogdon from the bullpen — has only finished the fifth inning twice in his past five starts. Despite the short start Tuesday, the outing was arguably his best in that span, striking out five and walking two, while giving up one run and two hits.

Angels closer Kenley Jansen, who left Monday’s game with shoulder cramps after throwing a few pitches below 90 mph, returned Tuesday and tossed a scoreless ninth.

Zach Neto left Tuesday’s game in the ninth after short-arming a throw, airmailing first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. After a short talk with Montgomery and the team trainer, he walked to the dugout.